In oxygen therapy, the patient is provided with a mixture of air and oxygen. In the process, the oxygen is led from an oxygen supply container through a tube to the patient and made available for inhalation. For this, the oxygen led to the mouth and nose area through known distributor systems is fed to one or both sides of the nose. These distributor systems are generally designed in such a way that they consist of combined tubing sections and have either one or two short tubing elements that reach into the wings of the nose and from the open ends of which the oxygen flows out.
In oxygen therapy, output volumes of 2 to 5 liters per minute are attained, in such a way as to produce flow rates of up to 660 cm/s for one discharge opening and 330 cm/s for two discharge openings, with an average inside diameter of approximately 4 mm for the discharge point of the tubing elements. Correspondingly greater values result from smaller diameters (2 to 3 mm). These flow rates are so high that it can be extremely uncomfortable for the patient. Attempts have therefore been made to reduce the speed of the oxygen flowing out.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,802,431 proposed to design the tubing elements led into the nose openings in such a way that they widen in a funnel shape and the oxygen flow runs from the smaller diameter to the larger diameter. This reduces the flow rate, resulting in an administration of oxygen that is more comfortable for the patient.
In most distributor systems the oxygen is led into the wings of the nose through the aforementioned tubing elements. Oxygen is supplied in sufficient quantity in this way as long as the patient breathes through the nose, and the oxygen can be dosed quite precisely. However, only an insufficient quantity of oxygen is guaranteed if the patient breathes through the mouth.
To guarantee oxygen administration at least to a limited extent when the patient breathes through the mouth, U.S. Pat. No. 4,156,426 proposes to complete the distributor system with an opening to the mouth, through which the oxygen fed to the distributor system can also exit. In this distributor system the main supply is still provided through two tubing elements sticking into the nasal cavities. When the patient inhales through the nose, both the supplied oxygen and the ambient air through the additional opening are led into the nasal cavities. When the patient exhales through the nose or inhales through the mouth, the oxygen flows out through the additional opening and makes its way into the patient's open mouth in such a way that oxygen is fed to the patient in this way. When the distributor system is designed like this, however, there is a considerable difference in oxygen dosing between inhaling through the nose and inhaling through the mouth. The additional opening of the distributor system directed to the mouth releases the oxygen diffusely, particularly when the patient exhales through the nose. Oxygen is thus supplied in clearly lower amounts when the patient inhales through the mouth, in such a way that the total dose can no longer be determined in a reliable manner since it depends on how often the patient has inhaled through the nose or through the mouth.
All distributor systems with tubing elements that reach into the inside of the nose have in common that they are not very comfortable to wear and are experienced as burdensome by the patient. Even soft plastics, such as those in U.S. Pat. No. 3,802,431 do not provide impairment-free wearing of the oxygen distributor systems. Padding the tubing elements inside the nose is only feasible to a limited extent and always leads to complete closing of the nose, in such a way that the patient has no choice but to exhale through the mouth.